Upland Public Works yard to become water-wise landscape

UPLAND - The city's public works yard is undergoing a transformation to help educate the community as well as save on the water bill.

The yard is being redesigned to show residents how the use of native and drought tolerant plants can save them money and time as well as create an attractive yard.

"I'm really excited," said Alison Loukeh, the city's water conservation specialist, who spearheaded the project.

Generation Water, a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that assists in the creation of "green jobs," is the primary contractor for the landscape.

The landscape was designed by a Cal Poly Pomona student, who incorporated colorful drought tolerant plants that are native to the region.

There will be a rock creek bed for on-site water retention.

The plants were selected for their beauty, bloom time, local availability and ease of maintenance.

"I was really careful on this. It does no good to plant really exotic stuff that nobody can get," Loukeh said.

The plants will be labeled to help visitors identify and find plants they would like to purchase for their landscapes.

The plants should be available in local nurseries and maybe retail stores in the future, she said.

"Once we create some sort of demand, everybody will start to carry them," she said.

Since the plants are native to the region, they will only need to be maintained twice a year, she said.

"They live here. This is where they're home. They're good here," she said.

The plants should be able to survive off the winter rains, but if there is a dry spell, a new irrigation system being installed should help.

The Toro Co. donated a new irrigation system and controller that will feature high efficiency drip and spray emitters, which can all be controlled from a cell phone.

The same company also provided the city water-wise sprinkler nozzles that were given to residents for free.

Burrtec Waste Industries, which provides the city's waste management services, is donating bins to hold unwanted turf and plants during the re-landscaping.

Walmart has donated mulch for the project.

City Manager Stephen Dunn said the landscaping change should make a difference in water consumption in the city.

"We are always in conservation mode. Without a doubt we want to consume or use as little water as possible because it's a valuable resource," he said. "We have a number of residents that have put in water wise landscaping and find out the city hadn't done it itself."

The city hosts free workshops at the city yard to help residents with their water-wise landscapes.

"A lot of time it's people who are already pretty environmentally conscience," Loukeh said. "They are looking to save money, but are often looking to be better stewards of the environment."

Loukeh said Upland residents really care about their impact on the environment.

"They really care, so that's I would say of the majority of them is that they want to do the right thing," she said. "They're also very tired of maintenance, tired of mowing, and truly I don't blame them. It gets old."

Public Works officials are asking for volunteers to help plant the new garden from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the yard, 1370 N. Benson Ave.